As a people, we have become obsessed with Health. There is something fundamentally, radically unhealthy about all this. We do not seem to be seeking more exuberance in living as much as staving off failure, putting off dying. We have lost all confidence in the human body. ~Lewis Thomas

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Crisis Evokes Serenity

Have you noticed that during the times of your life when you were facing a crisis or other incident that took 100% of your brain power your mind focuses to a pinpoint and you have sudden and amazing clarity in the situation?

Of course you probably didn't think about it at the time. You were probably nailing plywood to your windows or administering CPR or swerving to avoid an accident. It all went by so fast you didn't stop to pay attention to the way your brain handled the moment.

Most of our time is spent far away from crisis. We hit the snooze button a couple of times, shower, drink that first blessed cup of coffee, drive to work barely noticing the world around us. The rest of the day, week, month, year goes pretty much the same.

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Highly Distracted

And while we do not want to live a life of constant crisis, we should always strive for a degree of that true clarity.

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What is on your mind?

THE SECRET OF INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY

Who hasn't said "If I only had more time...?"

But the secret is simply this: it is not about time, it is about SPACE.

We only have a certain, finite amount of psychic bandwidth and if our creative energy is being used to fix every little problem that has popped into our head or is buzzing around us like bees we will have nothing but wasted energy.

Save your creativity. Get in your 'zone'. Be ready for change.

Zen Buddhists use the term "mind like water". Bruce Lee said, "Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend."

Strive for flexibility, not perfection. Clear your mind and give yourself SPACE to think, to create, to grow.